alignment

[GreyGoose006]

is camber something that i can adjust myself or should i take it somewhere.
the other day i noticed that my car has developed some POSITIVE camber, which would explain the wear on the outer edges of the tires.
btw, its an 84 caprice if you didnt know or if it matters

[GreyGoose006]

nobody?

[silicon212]

The only thing you can do yourself (and get reasonably close) is toe - and you use string for this.

Camber and caster require a machine. If your car has developed this attribute relatively suddenly (in the last few months or so), the chances are good that there is a worn or failing part - possibly control arm bushings. You will need to replace the worn or failing parts before you can be assured that an alignment will hold more than 1 hour.

[GreyGoose006]

gotcha.
i thought caster was adjustable by moving shims from one side of the upper control arm to the other side to change the inclination of the spindle.

i dont think it has developed it suddenly, but it has developed over the course of about a 9 months to a year.

[maxwedge]

Correct, but that changes the camber also unless the thickness of the shims is consistent, no way to do this without an alignment machine, as mentioned sounds like upper control arm bushing wear.

[Blue Bowtie]

Ride height will affect camber, so it is important to check ride height against the stock specifications. Likewise, ball joint wear, upper and lower control arm bushing damage, and frame flexing will affect camber. Before attempting to align anything, it is important to check and repair any of those conditions. If you want an overview for aligning your front end, I can post up a mini-novel.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

is camber something that i can adjust myself or should i take it somewhere.
the other day i noticed that my car has developed some POSITIVE camber, which would explain the wear on the outer edges of the tires.
btw, its an 84 caprice if you didnt know or if it matters

if the vehicle still goes straight does not pull left/right, and tires are evenly worn, the most common cause on outside edge tire wear is low air pressure or too much toe....tires on forward edge closer than trailing edge..if vehicle pulled left or right i would be concerned over a worn componet....


another componet is front sway bar bushings if worn replace all......

changes in camber would cause, drift/pull,and tire wear on a single tire...not both the same wear pattern...

[GreyGoose006]

well i am at the max pressure on the sidewall which is 35psi
i usually run 27 so i was doing that but found that the tires looked like they deformed too much and looked under inflated, so i upped the pressure.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

well i am at the max pressure on the sidewall which is 35psi
i usually run 27 so i was doing that but found that the tires looked like they deformed too much and looked under inflated, so i upped the pressure.

i used 215 -75 r15 costco cheap 210.00 /4tires lasted 80,000mi wear was even 35psi front/30psi rear...front stabilizer bushings replaced, and adjusted for the minimum toe...also rotated tires every 10,000mi...



front sway bars need new bushings if 10years old... the bushings are not designed to last longer...

[GreyGoose006]

im using poly bushings on the bar and the end links.
there are about 20k on my tires

[bobss396]

If you know what you're doing you can jockey shims around and improve your situation, but the car should be brought up on a level alignment rack and be done right.

You can fix a "pull" condition by moving shims to and fro on the same control arm, what you take out of the front, put in the rear and it won't impact camber on a control arm that is symmetrical. Or vice versa.

In your case, it might be cornering wear or air pressure related. With your positive camber wear condition, you'd have to add shims to kick the top of the tire inward. If you feel that you must, add one thick (1/8") shim to both shim stacks. Keeping it equal, the caster stays the same.

Bob

[GreyGoose006]

well i dont really have any pull.
my steering wheel is crooked, but i blame that on the alignment shop doing a crappy job of securing it the first time around.

when i got the car, the wheel was straight and the car drove all over the road.
i got it aligned and put new tires on and it drove straight, but the wheel was crooked.

ill look into an alignment then i guess.

[maxwedge]

11 posts and we are right back to no short cuts, it needs to be done right!!

[GreyGoose006]

well i was just trying to save a buck.
sorry im a poor college student with less than $600 in the bank.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

well i dont really have any pull.
my steering wheel is crooked, but i blame that on the alignment shop doing a crappy job of securing it the first time around.

when i got the car, the wheel was straight and the car drove all over the road.
i got it aligned and put new tires on and it drove straight, but the wheel was crooked.

ill look into an alignment then i guess.

bring the vehicle back to the alignment shop and show them how they screwed up your tires...........